Inhibition Effect of Lactic Acid Bacteria against Food Born Pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes

In recent years due to changes in lifestyle and eating behavior of the human populations, disease caused by contaminated food has increased significantly. Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157: H7 and Salmonella enteric are three of the most important food borne bacterial pathogens and can lead to food borne diseases. Also today wide spread of resistance to antibiotics among bacteria occurs due to increased consumption of antibiotics. Therefore, there is a dire need for development of new types of safe antimicrobial compounds. In this field, the most extensive research and commercial practices are based on probiotic bacteria. Probiotics, specifically lactic acid bacteria, are broadly used in the food industry for fermentation. Furthermore, probiotics produce valuable antimicrobial products that results to health effects. Now, the use of probiotic for treatment of disease is thought to be an effective way to improve the gut health and an alternative for treatment by antibiotics. Probiotics contribute to food safety by inhibition of the growth of other bacteria. Lactic acid bacteria can be used as protective cultures to compete with several pathogens and undesired organisms. Since food safety has become a significant international concern, here we investigated application of lactic acid bacteria for controlling the growth of Listeria monocytogenes.